For Ewan McGregor, the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ TV show was wish fulfillment in the purest form. The celebrated actor has openly admitted he was shaken by how unpopular the Star Wars prequels originally were, but their reputation has improved as their audience has come of age. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a welcome chance to reunite with Hayden Christensen in this new era.

The return of McGregor and Christensen was as close to a cinematic event as Disney+ will ever get. According to Nielsen, viewers watched over one billion minutes of Obi-Wan Kenobi over its opening weekend, a stunning achievement that shows just how popular the prequels have become.

Looking back, though, even McGregor seems to feel a little underwhelmed. Speaking at Fan Expo Chicago 2025, he recently noted that his show seemed overshadowed by the success of The Mandalorian; what should have been an unforgettable event landed to surprisingly little impact. That’s probably (partly) why he keeps hoping for Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2.

As McGregor noted, this should have been Star Wars‘ “big splash” on the small screen. But how did it wind up simply part of a massive Disney+ slate, and could it yet be redeemed?

Obi-Wan Kenobi Was Originally Pitched As A Trilogy

The story of Obi-Wan Kenobi goes all the way back to 2017, when filmmaker Stephen Daldry entered talks to direct an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Years later, McGregor admitted his public hopes had caught attention at Disney; he’d been invited to a meeting, where he declared he really would love to return to Star Wars, and Daldry’s project was the result.

Writer Stuart Beattie had a better idea; an entire Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy. Beattie argued that Obi-Wan would have been burdened with guilt, cutting himself off from the Force after Anakin Skywalker’s betrayal. The overarching narrative would have seen Obi-Wan come to trust himself and the Force once again, believing Luke to be the galaxy’s new hope.

But the Obi-Wan Kenobi project – be it a standalone or a TV show – hit a roadblock in 2018. Lucasfilm canceled all anthology projects after the poor performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and corporate priorities at Disney meant that three Star Wars movies became Disney+ TV shows instead. Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of these.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Wasn’t The Success It Deserved To Be

Directed by Deborah Chow, the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show was heavily modified from Beattie’s proposal. Some changes were smart, with expectations for a young Luke Skywalker subverted when Vivien Lyra Blair made her delightful debut as a young Princess Leia instead. But an Inquisitor plotline caught a lot of flack (some fair, some not).

Christensen and McGregor’s return may have been a big deal, but the Disney+ TV show didn’t really get the budget it deserved; it had a full production budget of just $90 million, the cheapest live-action Star Wars show of all.

Initial viewership was high, but audiences didn’t stick around for the full series; they were clearly drawn in for the spectacle of McGregor and Christensen’s returns, but they weren’t hooked. Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s finale came in for heavy criticism due to poor use of ILM’s Stagecraft technology, which led to an overly-dark final battle that was hard to see.

There’s No News On Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 – & That’s Actually A Good Thing

McGregor is eager for Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 (and so is Christensen). But there’s been no hint from Lucasfilm that this is on the cards, despite the stars’ hopes. In truth, it’s likely the muted pop culture reaction to the first season – which released alongside a flood of Star Wars content that arguably diluted the brand – has made it unlikely.

That does not, however, mean that a sequel of sorts is impossible. Corporate priorities at Disney have switched once again, with the focus now lying on the big screen once more; Lucasfilm is under orders to ramp up production of movies, and we’re even seeing TV shows like The Mandalorian revamped for theaters.

It feels as though Lucasfilm wasted the potential of Ob-Wan Kenobi. Of all the Disney+ TV shows, it was Obi-Wan that deserved a stellar budget; the scripts could have done with another pass, and McGregor himself has openly hinted he’s unhappy with the dependence on CGI rather than location filming.

The pivot back to the big screen creates new opportunities. Season 2 wouldn’t make as many waves as it should, but an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie would be a smart call; a strong marketing push would turn it into a true cinematic event. The story would need to be carefully written to avoid damaging continuity, but a skilled writer could pull it off.

All this means Obi-Wan Kenobi – the trilogy that became a TV show – could yet return to the big screen once again.

Release Date

2022 – 2022-00-00

Network

Disney+

Showrunner

Joby Harold

Writers

Stuart Beattie